The impact of ex-Portsmouth and Blackpool man since mid-season switch to Oxford United

Owen Dale started the campaign at Bloomfield Road and was mainly used in the left wing-back role by the Seasiders, making 23 league appearances in total. The 25-year-old had spent the entirety of the previous campaign on loan with Portsmouth, where he scored two goals and provided six assists in 50 outings.

In January, the ex-Crewe Alexandrea academy player exited the Fylde Coast club permanently to make the move to Oxford United for an undisclosed fee.

While he didn’t feature against Blackpool due an unofficial agreement when the U’s were in town at the start of February, he’s still been able to impact their challenge to finish in the top six.

In 12 outings for the Oxfordshire outfit he has scored once and provided three assists from the right. He’s quickly grown into a starting player, featuring in Des Buckingham’s XI in the last eight games, whereas for the Seasiders his minutes were not as frequent. According to Sofascore, he has an average rating of 6.9 since signing for the Yellows, compared to 6.5 during his 23 outings in Tangerine.

With Josh Murphy thriving on the left, it appears Dale has been able to compliment his skillset on the opposite side.

Oxford have a huge midweek game against Lincoln City at the Kassam Stadium this evening, before another home game against Stevenage on Saturday. They’ve scored 13 goals in their last three outings, including a 5-0 victory over Peterborough United at the weekend, which puts them in a strong position to claim a spot in the play-offs.